Night on the Town
by Sardixiis
Summary: There aren't very many women in law enforcement. So when JJ and Emily meet Olivia and Amanda on a case in Manhattan, they decide a little bit of fun is necessary when the case is over. Girls' night anyone?
1. Chapter 1 A Night Out

**Night on the Town**

Author's Note: So this is my first crossover fic, but not only that, it's also the complete opposite topic of what I usually write. There's no drama, no danger, no pain in this one. Instead you just get some light, fluffy girl time. Obviously time out to relax and enjoy yourself with friends isn't my cup of tea, and I have very little experience with it. I'm not completely pleased with how this turned out, but such is life. Enjoy it if you would like while I start working on one that's more up my alley.

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><p><span>Chapter One – A Night Out<span>

"I have no idea how you pulled this off, but I'm really glad you did," Emily told JJ as she pulled the door of her hotel room closed.

JJ grinned, her eyes twinkling with amusement. The team had finished their most recent case earlier that afternoon after almost three days of hard work. During their time on the case, JJ and Emily had become close with the two female detectives of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. When Detective Benson had suggested a night out to drink and relax together, the others had immediately jumped on the idea. The only challenge had been convincing Agent Hotchner that the BAU could wait until the next morning to fly back to Quantico. Somehow JJ had managed to sway him to the plan.

"I'm just talented," she answered as she waited for Emily to join her.

"Of course, but this is Hotch. I didn't think anyone could convince him to do something he didn't want to do."

"It really wasn't that hard. Hotch is nothing compared to the media circus I used to deal with."

Emily laughed, knowing the truth of those words. JJ could pull off miracles with the media.

"Have him wrapped around your little finger, huh?"

JJ rolled her eyes as they headed toward the lobby.

"I wouldn't go _that_ far."

"Uh huh," Emily smirked.

She knew full well that JJ had no more pull on their boss than anyone else on the team. If Hotch had really minded staying, he wouldn't have given in no matter what persuasion JJ employed to convince him. Regardless of this fact, Emily continued her joking. It was too much fun to tease her. JJ didn't seem to mind. If anything she was glad for the opportunity to throw something back at Emily.

"I have worked with him for a long time."

Emily's eyes glittered. JJ had set her up perfectly. This was going to be good.

"Makes you sound old, JJ."

JJ stumbled to a stop, her mouth hanging open. Emily, laughing now, just continued into the lobby where the two detectives should be waiting. It took JJ a moment to pull herself together, but when she did she hurried after.

"Like you're one to talk! You're older than I am!" JJ shot back when she'd caught up.

"I don't want to hear it from either of you!"

Both Emily and JJ swung around at the sound of Olivia's voice. She was standing only a few feet away, a hand resting on her hip and a smile on her face. Amanda Rollins stood right beside her. Both women were dressed in more relaxed clothes than they usually wore to work. The two FBI agents were likewise dressed for their night out. Emily and JJ nodded toward Amanda and returned Olivia's smile.

"You can't be that much older than me," Emily pointed out as they all headed for the hotel exit.

"Maybe not, but unless you've experienced a mid-life crisis you have no right to talk," Olivia countered, mildly amused. She had no intention of actually comparing ages. It was something that you just didn't talk about.

Amanda lifted an eyebrow and glanced at her coworker in surprise. Olivia had a lot of experience, but she'd never struck Amanda as old.

"And you have?" she asked skeptically.

Olivia chuckled and pushed the door open, holding it until the others walked through. When they started down the street, Olivia finally answered.

"More than one."

"You're kidding!" Emily exclaimed.

Olivia hadn't seemed old enough to even have one, let alone two. As if her appearance wasn't enough of an indication, the entire time they'd worked together the detective had been just as focused, driven, and energized as the others. Then again, Rossi could pull that off too, and he'd already retired once.

Amanda and JJ seemed just as shocked with the news. Olivia simply nodded and led them around the corner to where her car was parked.

"I had one just recently, actually."

Amanda frowned, trying to work out what that meant. She didn't really know Olivia at all even though they'd been working together for over half a year. Olivia had never been one to share much about herself. Still, Amanda figured this crisis had to be work related. She'd seen Olivia slowly come around from her cold demeanor earlier in the year. It was probably related to that and the massive changes in the 16th precinct.

"Work related?"

Olivia shrugged, not planning on giving more details. Her personal life was just that. Personal. Anything more than grazing the surface would be prevented.

"Let's just agree now to stay off the gory details of the work topic, okay?" JJ asked pleadingly. They were out to have fun, and she didn't want work jeopardizing that in the least.

The other three women seemed to agree, and JJ received a "definitely" and "for sure" in response. A moment later, Olivia paused beside her car and rested a hand on the roof.

"And this would be my first mid-life crisis."

JJ and Emily's faces were just as stunned as Olivia had expected them to be. Amanda had had the same wide-eyed, jaw dropped stare earlier when Liv had picked her up. JJ recovered first.

"_This_ is your mid-life crisis?" she asked incredulously.

Olivia grinned in amusement.

"You don't really need a car in Manhattan, but a few years ago I just up and bought one."

"You seriously own a Mustang convertible?" Emily demanded her eyes still wide as she reverently touched the hood. She may not be a guy, but that didn't mean she didn't know a nice car when she saw one. It may not be overly flashy or modern, but damn.

"That's what you're looking at, yeah," Olivia confirmed as she slipped her key into the lock and opened the door. "Hop in."

Emily didn't need to be asked twice. She climbed into the back seat and admired everything inside. JJ joined her in back, more amused at Emily's awe than anything else. Once Amanda had joined Olivia in the front seat, Liv started the car and began backing out.

"What year is this?" Emily asked.

"I'm going to assume you're talking about the car and haven't gotten so lost in it that you forgot the actual year."

JJ snickered at Olivia's teasing. Emily totally deserved it after earlier.

"A '65."

"This is incredible you know."

Olivia glanced into the rearview mirror at Emily and shook her head. The car may be incredible, but it had gotten her into trouble as well. Someone had used her car to set her up for murder. She'd quickly become the prime suspect in the case and had even been sent to Rikers after arraignment, pending trial. After she'd been cleared of all charges, thanks to the hard work of the rest of the SVU, she hadn't had the heart to get rid of the car.

"Okay, enough!" JJ interrupted before Emily could continue praising the vehicle. "This is a girls' night. Please don't make me feel like we're still with all of the guys."

Emily grinned and didn't seem overly concerned with the fact that she'd bothered JJ. Teasing was a great method of stress relief; one they couldn't really use during a case. Usually it had to wait until they were all back on the jet and heading for home. The entire team tended to make up for that when they weren't knee deep in an assignment. For Emily, now was as good a time as any. Still, she figured she might as well try to be nice by changing the subject.


	2. Chapter 2 Time Passed

Chapter Two – Time Passed

"Where are we going anyway?" Emily asked as a favor to JJ after she'd spent so much time mooning over Olivia's car.

Amanda just shrugged, not really sure herself.

"Olivia is choosing since I've only been here a few months."

Both Emily and JJ knew that Nick Amaro, another SVU detective, was new to the squad. They hadn't known that Amanda Rollins was too.

"To Manhattan or New York?" JJ asked.

"New York. I transferred here from Atlanta Special Victims. I know my way around and have found a good coffee shop, a gym, a diner open 24 hours for when we don't get off until 3AM, and did I mention a good coffee shop?"

The others laughed. They all knew how important good coffee could be. It was the only thing that kept them functioning more often than not.

"Olivia is the one who knows the hidden secrets."

Emily chuckled again at the phrasing, but she knew it was true. Locals always knew the best spots; especially those out of the way of tourists that nobody seemed to even know existed.

"Better be good then."

JJ gave Emily a playful swat on the arm and took charge.

"How long have you lived here, Olivia?"

"Manhattan born and raised," Olivia told her with a grin. "The city and SVU are all I've ever known."

Emily's eyebrows lifted in surprise. Olivia had only worked for one unit her entire career? Most of the BAU had been around awhile, but many of them had spent time in other areas as well. She, JJ, Morgan, and Rossi all had. As for Hotch, she couldn't be sure, but it wouldn't surprise her if he had.

JJ seemed to be just as surprised with Olivia's career path as Emily had been.

"Only SVU?"

"Yeah, unless you count my time as a beat cop."

"And there is no way you're new at this," Emily said. "You're way too good at it."

Olivia just smiled, not really giving the compliment much thought. She'd heard it more than once, so it rarely affected her now. Besides, she always thought she could do more, save more people, try and do something else to stop the horrors that happened every day even though she knew deep down that she was doing everything that she could.

"Thirteen years," she confirmed.

Emily and JJ glanced at each other with mirrored looks of amazement. That was almost twice as long as even JJ had spent at the BAU.

"Okay, seriously, I love you guys and all, but thirteen years? I'm not sure you wouldn't drive me nuts without breaks," Emily told her friend.

JJ chuckled, completely understanding. There were some days when they couldn't make it through a few hours without driving each other nuts. It came with the territory considering the team spent more time together than they did apart.

"And with our job, breaks don't come that often," she added.

"You haven't been out of the unit at all?" Amanda asked. Just like with Olivia's personal life, Amanda knew very little about her career history even though they worked together. The two of them didn't share a lot, and this was one of their first nights out together that wasn't work related.

Olivia shrugged and made another turn, easily navigating the busy New York roads. They were making a pretty big deal out of this. Considering the average time spent in SVU was two years, maybe her thirteen was a big deal. It had never seemed that way to her. She belonged in SVU and couldn't picture herself anywhere else.

"Not really. I had a short stint in Computer Crimes and a little while after that I spent some time undercover for the FBI's domestic terrorism task force."

"You were undercover with us?" JJ asked in surprise. It wasn't often that the bureau outsourced jobs without a good reason, and domestic terrorism didn't exactly fit with sex crimes.

"It wasn't planned," Olivia explained. "Events in New York left me pretty deep in an organization they were looking into. The FBI's CI was dead, so they sent me in alone to finish the rest of her mission outside of New York after that. I hated every second of it."

"Undercover work isn't easy," Emily told her. She knew better than anyone how difficult it could be.

"It wasn't that exactly. It was more the fact that I spent all of my time chasing after eco-terrorists that didn't exist. In return, I wound up being falsely charged with assaulting a cop, paid my own bail, was questioned in a murder, and then solved the murder after my pain in the ass handler outed me as a cop."

"Eventful," JJ laughed.

"You have no idea," Olivia told her. "Every time we deal with the FBI it's eventful. The other agent we've run into more than once got my former partner hurt each time. Shot twice, blown up once."

All three of the others burst into laughter. It was just ridiculous. Nobody could have that much bad luck.

"You're kidding!" JJ exclaimed.

"Nope. One of those shots was actually her own ricocheted bullet too."

That brought another round of laughter to the group, Olivia included.

"Remind me not to end up as your partner if she shows up," Amanda told her as she wiped the tears out of her eyes.

"Oh, it has nothing to do with me!" Olivia insisted. "I was only there once!"

Amanda didn't seem the least bit reassured, and a slightly worried look creased her face. When Olivia noticed it she grinned, but saved Amanda the worry by continuing the conversation.

"What about you two? How long have you been with the BAU?"

"Almost seven years," JJ answered as she tucked a strand of blond hair behind her ear. "I was with the DoD at the Pentagon last year."

"That certainly puts me in my place," Amanda grumbled. A job with the Department of Defense was a big deal. Amanda's career path completely paled in comparison to that.

"Obviously I liked the BAU better. I definitely didn't come back just for the long hours."

"Who would?" Emily asked with a quick roll of her eyes.

The two detectives knew the feeling. They often worked gruelingly long days that didn't leave room for sleep. Weekends were potential work days too since they could be called out at anytime. Neither serial killers nor rapists took vacations.

Before long all eyes turned expectantly toward Emily. It took her a moment to register the fact that she was silently being asked to share her own answer.

"Oh, I was with Interpol before joining the bureau about six years ago."

She didn't really want to go into more detail. The memories of that time when she was undercover and what happened after were still too painful. Thinking about it could send her into a tailspin, and that wasn't what she wanted tonight. Thankfully she was saved from responding when Olivia drove into a small parking lot and turned off the ignition.

"Talmarc's?" she asked, looking curiously at the unlit sign. There weren't a lot of places in New York that didn't use fluorescent neon lights somewhere.

"Yup. It's a little place. A lot of cops frequent it, but it's not considered a cop bar since there are so many locals who come too. The atmosphere is nice, and you usually don't have to worry about trouble. Good fries, cheap beer," Olivia explained as she dropped her keys into her purse and got out of the car.

"What else could a woman need?" JJ grinned.

"I'd take some good music," Amanda responded nonchalantly as she followed Olivia toward the bar's front door.

"Can't have everything," Olivia told her with a smile.


	3. Chapter 3 If Walls Could Talk

Chapter Three – If Walls Could Talk

Olivia led the way inside and quickly found an open table near the bar's main counter. The bar was actually rather bright and filled with the chatter of various patrons. A pool table and a dart board that was currently in use filled one side, while the rest of the room was used for tables. Most of the walls were covered with unusual signs and a few custom license plates. Soon after they'd taken a seat, a waitress came over, a wide grin on her face.

"Hey guys, what can I get for you?"

"Large basket of fries to share and a special on tap," Olivia told her without hesitation.

Following Olivia's lead, the others ordered the same. They trusted her to know what was good. While their waitress left to fill their orders, Emily, JJ, and Amanda took the time to look around the bar. The signs alone could keep them entertained for awhile.

"Some of these are really good. _Beer will change the world. I don't know how, but it will_."

After reading the sign aloud, Emily grinned over at JJ, eyes sparkling. Olivia had definitely brought them to a good place.

"Hadn't seen that one yet," JJ admitted. "How about this one? The one with 24."

She pointed to a gray sign that read _Twenty four hours in a day. Twenty four beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not._

"Oh god, I hope the guys we deal with don't decide to follow that one," Amanda groaned.

More beer would only add to the number of cases they received. That and the stupidity levels would jack up a few notches. Many of their suspects were stupid enough as it was and didn't need more help in that department.

"Or this one, _I once thought beer was bad for you… so I gave up thinking_," JJ agreed.

"Personally, the one in the left hand corner there is my favorite," Olivia informed them as she nodded to a sign that read, _Everyone needs something to believe in. I believe I will have another beer._

"And the one right over the counter."

The sign held a place of honor and would be impossible to miss. _Don't worry. Our staff is accustomed to dumb questions._

"We should have one like that on our door," Emily grinned. "Only it should say: _Our staff is accustomed to dumb questions. Please worry about what you say_."

"Because you bite?" Amanda asked a grin plastered on her own face.

"We could," JJ admitted, eyes glittering with mirth. "I'd be more inclined to shoot though. Less risk of germs."

"The only problem if they worry is that not thinking on their part is usually what gets us a win on our cases," Olivia pointed out.

"How about just _shut up and tell the truth_ then?" Emily corrected.

All four of them started laughing. They still were when their waitress returned with their drinks. Fries would be out a bit later. Emily had to wipe tears out of her eyes before she could take her glass. Olivia took a sip of her beer before speaking up.

"If only it could be that easy."

That only brought on another round of laughter, though this one was supplemented by alcohol. They all realized that they were talking about work again, but it didn't matter. The topics they were on were still fun, and they were having a good time.

"Remember that one time we were out with Penelope, Em?" JJ asked after a quick sip of beer. It had been a good choice to follow Olivia's lead. The bar's special was good.

"You mean Brad?"

JJ nodded a moment before they both spoke simultaneously.

"Keeping secrets and kicking criminal ass!"

The two detectives watched their laughing friends expectantly. They wanted details! Apparently this last trip had resulted in something memorable.

"Hey, you two going to share or what?" Amanda finally demanded after a good five minutes of continuous giggling from the profilers.

"Sorry, sorry," JJ gasped in response as she struggled to get her laughter under control. "Last time we girls went out we met this guy, Brad, who said he was an FBI agent."

"We played ignorant and asked him lots of questions," Emily continued. "He answered every one with "It's classified.""

"When we asked to see his badge, he told us he couldn't show us, and that the FBI is good at keeping secrets and kicking criminal ass."

By this point Olivia and Amanda could see where the story was going. They both grinned wildly. Poor Brad had probably had no idea what hit him.

"The look on his face when the three of us showed him our credentials…"

Emily and JJ collapsed into hysterical laughter once again. There was no way they would ever forget that night.

"Kicking criminal ass, huh? If that's the FBI's job, does that mean ours is to kick criminal balls?" Amanda asked.

Olivia immediately started choking on a sip of beer. Where the hell had that come from? Emily and JJ seemed just as shocked.

"Whoo! I never would have expected to hear something like that coming out of your mouth!" Emily exclaimed. She was actually amused by it though. It certainly fit.

"Uh huh, because we're just supposed to be all proper because we're women?" JJ asked, wiggling her eyebrows at Emily.

"Hell no!"

"Well good, cause that's just not who I am," Amanda insisted.

Olivia was saved from commenting by the arrival of their fries. She took the basket happily and snagged a few off the top while the others enjoyed their playful bickering. They would notice the fries eventually. Until then Olivia would have first pick. So far none of the others were aware of the fries' arrival.

"Whenever they talk about people from the south it's always describing the guys as southern gentlemen. That's never applied to the ladies," Amanda continued.

Emily prodded JJ's arm with her elbow to catch her attention.

"Some southern gentlemen are really something too."

"Emily!" JJ blushed a bright red and looked away. It was then that she saw Olivia munching away on fries as she listened to them talk. "Hey!"

"What?" Liv asked innocently.

"How long have those been here?" JJ demanded.

Emily's and Amanda's eyes shifted to Olivia and then the fries after JJ's outburst. Their faces were a mix of surprise and irritated amusement at Olivia's deception.

"Oh, a little while," Olivia answered. "I was wondering how long it would take you to notice."

"Give me some. And pass over that ketchup!"

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><p>Author's Note: This is by far my favorite chapter. I had way too much fun looking up cool signs.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4 The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Chapter Four – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Before long all four were engulfed in enjoying their basket of heaven. The fries were thick, piping hot, and absolutely delicious.

"These are to die for," Emily said as she popped another perfectly salted fry in her mouth.

"Like I said. Good beer and great fries. What more could you want?" Olivia grinned back.

"I could always get you all another round."

All four women glanced up to find a man who could fit every category of tall, dark, and handsome. He was grinning down at them, apparently thinking he had a good chance. Oh how wrong he was. The girls glanced at each other and grinned.

"Unless you feel like buying without anything in return, I don't think you'd want to," JJ told him.

"I won't know unless I try," he responded with a beaming smile, still thinking that he might get lucky.

"Considering I'm taken, I doubt it," JJ responded.

"What about the rest of you?"

"Honey, we deal with perverts all day. I don't really think you want to be the next ass we kick," Amanda drawled before she took a sip of her beer.

Olivia held her badge up with a smile to further explain what Amanda had told him. It was just habit to carry it with her even when she was off duty. Their new "friend" winced slightly and disappeared into the crowd. All four women glanced at each other and burst into hysterical laughter for the umpteenth time already that night.

"If one doesn't work, try a different one, huh?" JJ laughed. "Lame."

"Not as lame as Viper," Emily smirked as she remembered the flamboyantly dressed man who thought he could have women eating out of the palm of his hand at any point.

"Viper?" JJ asked while the other two lifted their eyebrows in a question.

"You were on maternity leave," Emily explained. "Be glad too. Jordan and I had to go into a club to talk to him since he was related to our case. The guy taught other guys these tricks and gimmicks to get women. Really thought he was all that."

"Sounds fun," Amanda mused with a roll of her eyes.

Olivia snorted and shook her head. She didn't even want to know how bad this guy was. Speaking of guys though…

"So you're married, JJ?"

"Um… not exactly," JJ explained, her face showing her slight unease. It was a question she always tried to avoid since she never had a good answer. She was really sick of people pushing the issue too.

"She's been putting it off for years," Emily moaned.

"Ugh! I don't see what's so important about putting a ring on my finger and officially getting married. Will, Henry, and I are perfectly happy the way we are."

"JJ!" Emily cried out in exasperation.

"How long have you known this guy?" Amanda asked.

"We've been seeing each other for awhile, but we started living together three years ago, before Henry was born," she explained.

"Has he proposed yet?" Olivia questioned, a light smile playing across her fact. She knew how hard it was to hold any kind of long term relationship in their line of work. It couldn't be any easier for JJ.

"Well…"

"The day we all found out she was pregnant," Emily cut in, knowing JJ wasn't going to share the details willingly.

JJ blushed darkly. She desperately needed to get this conversation off of her and Will. Defense wasn't going to cut it. She was going to need to go on the offensive, and she knew just the way to do it too.

"What about you and Mick, Emily?"

Emily's mouth dropped open in surprise at the sudden reversal of interrogation. They hadn't discussed Mick Rawson in years. JJ smirked. That had worked far too well.

"Oh? You've got a guy too?" Amanda asked, also amused by Emily's shock.

"No! I haven't even called the guy once since the case, and that was awhile ago," Emily insisted.

"And I for one don't see why not!" JJ returned.

"Bad feeling?" Olivia asked.

"No. Nothing like that," Emily assured.

"Not interested then," Amanda concluded with a knowing nod of her head.

"Oh no, she was very interested," JJ grinned before she dunked her fry in some ketchup. She thrust it toward Emily as she spoke again. "What is not to like in a British guy with a sexy accent, badge, and gun?"

"And you didn't jump on this?" Amanda demanded incredulously. "Seriously, what is wrong with you?"

Emily groaned. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her.

"Things got in the way," she reasoned.

Both Amanda and Olivia rolled their eyes. Excuses, excuses.

"What could possibly be that important that would get in the way of maybe having a shot with a guy? That chance doesn't come up all that often!" Amanda questioned, her eyes skewering Emily.

"Well, you know, dying sort of does a good job of getting in the way of everything," Emily grumbled softly, sudden pain flaring up in her eyes as she locked them on the table top.

JJ reached out and squeezed her friend's hand in support. She didn't want Emily thinking about that if she could help it. The less time Emily spent dwelling on Ian Doyle and her time in hiding the better. Thankfully, Amanda and Olivia seemed to pick up on the sudden dip in mood.

Amanda was about to ask what Emily's explanation meant when she felt a light touch on her arm. She glanced at Olivia and caught the barely perceptible shake of her head. Being as good with victims as she was, Olivia could easily pick up on someone's unease. Depression was seeping out of Emily, and Olivia could see it no matter how hard the other brunette tried to hide the emotion. She was about to say something to shift the topic and help Emily out of her obviously painful memories when Amanda spoke up.

"Hey, Liv. What about you and that DA?"

The question certainly did the trick. Emily latched onto the new topic with a vengeance, especially when she saw the light blush creep over Olivia's face.

"Ah hah! Why didn't this come up earlier?" Emily demanded, her eyes sparkling and a wide grin on her face.


	5. Chapter 5 Uncovering the Truth

Chapter Five – Uncovering the Truth

Olivia tried not to groan, but it slipped out anyway. She really didn't want to be discussing her personal life, especially this piece of it. Not even her captain or coworkers knew about David. Olivia seriously doubted there was a way out of this though. Maybe if it had been just Amanda she would have a chance. With Emily and JJ too, she was screwed.

"What's his name again?" Amanda asked, visibly trying to remember. "Haden?"

"David Hayden," Olivia corrected.

"Well, she remembers his full name. That's a good sign," Emily teased as she nudged JJ.

JJ grinned and nodded. There was no way she was letting Olivia off the hook without more information. Both she and Emily had shared, which made it Olivia's turn. If they had to dig deep to get the answers, they would. Olivia noticed the eager looks and held up her hands in an attempt to stop them, preferably before they pounced.

"Stop. Just stop. There is really nothing going on between me and David, and nothing really could. It's a conflict of interests."

"And you said my excuses were bad!" Emily groaned as she shook her head at Olivia.

"Em does have a point," JJ admitted.

"I'm a cop. He's a DA," Olivia insisted. There was no possible way they could get things to work out no matter how much they liked each other, and they did like each other. It would be a disaster waiting to happen in court.

"So? You're both working for the prosecution, right? I might be able to understand if you were on different sides, but you're not," JJ pointed out, a smile still on her face. It seemed like Olivia could be just as obstinate as Emily when it came to relationships. Not that she was really one to talk considering she still wasn't willing to tie the knot with Will.

"Doesn't matter. It would be like giving candy to a baby if a defense attorney got a hold of this."

"So you don't work the same cases," Amanda told her easily, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Olivia opened her mouth to protest again, but none of the others would have it. JJ decided to take charge. She was a master at manipulation when she had to be. Getting information out of Olivia that she didn't want to give wouldn't be too hard.

"Do you like him?"

It was an innocent enough question on the surface, and Olivia fell for it easily.

"I… yeah, I guess so."

"Why?"

Olivia frowned. She hadn't really thought about it before. Nobody had ever asked anything like that either. Liv had a feeling this question was leading somewhere else, but she wasn't sure where. Unable to come up with a valid reason to be wary, she was stuck answering with the truth.

"I don't know. He makes me happy. Plus, he accepts my challenges, which even I will admit are nearly impossible to deal with."

A wide grin spread across JJ's face. She'd got her, and from the look on Olivia's face Olivia had no idea. Emily caught on to what Olivia had unknowingly revealed thanks to JJ's subtle questioning.

"You know, there is no way you could know that if you hadn't actually been dating him," Emily smirked.

Olivia's jaw dropped in shock. She'd been completely blindsided, and at first she had absolutely no idea how to respond to it. The fact that she and David had been dating was supposed to be a secret. She'd been planning on having it remain that way for awhile too.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Emily demanded.

"You both played me!" Olivia growled as she threw a fry at Emily.

Emily easily ducked aside, and the fry flew over her shoulder. That was a waste of a good fry.

Despite Olivia's apparent irritation, she was laughing. She'd never told anyone about her growing relationship with David, and it felt kind of nice to have other people know. Emily was beaming at her with a Cheshire grin, not regretting what she had done at all. Considering JJ was nonchalantly drinking more of her beer, she wasn't feeling the least bit guilty either.

"You're both awful!" Olivia exclaimed again.

"So you're really seeing him? Dating him?" Amanda asked eagerly.

"Yes, okay! Yes. We've gone on a few dates," Olivia admitted in exasperation.

She really hadn't had any other choice. The news was out, and she wasn't going to be able to deny it anymore. That meant she was going to need to tell her captain about them soon. He deserved to hear it from her and not through the back channels that could start if other people got to talking. David would need to know their relationship had come out also, so he could inform his boss too. She really hoped her boyfriend's explanation of what they needed to do within their own departments was as easy as he'd made it sound.

"Good! You deserve it," Amanda returned with a quick nod of her head.

Olivia just wasn't going to go there. Deserving a good guy didn't matter. No good guy deserved to be stuck dealing with her. She never made it easy, and she knew that perfectly well. It wasn't a topic she wanted up for discussion though. Instead she just turned the tables.

"And what about you? Find anybody that makes you believe there are still good guys out there?"

Amanda snorted and rolled her eyes. She'd asked Olivia that question a few months back, and now Olivia was tossing it back in her face. Olivia probably knew the answer too.

"You're kidding right? When would I have time? The only guys I ever deal with are the pervs we stick in cuffs and put behind bars."

"Trust me, sometimes that's the only moment with the male species you need," JJ assured.

"Because they're still guys and are totally clueless far too often," Amanda finished, completely understanding. She saw enough of that at the precinct. Apparently when it came to men she wasn't missing all that much in the world outside of work either. Go figure.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: It's possible that you'll have to wait until Sunday for another update for me after this. While I should be able to get online tomorrow, it's not 100%. Sorry about that.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6 Small Annoyances

Chapter Six – Small Annoyances

As the four women continued working away at their fries and beers, the conversation slowly veered away from boyfriends. Instead they started in on another work related topic. It didn't have any gory details thankfully, but it did allow them to vent.

"You have no idea what a pain in the ass a boss can be until you've met Strauss," Emily told Olivia and Amanda. "Cross a master manipulator with a self-centric bitch with her own agenda who will never accept anyone's opinion but her own and you might get close to her."

"That bad, huh?" Olivia asked after she finished her last sip of beer.

"You have no idea," Emily reiterated. She'd had issues with Strauss since the moment she'd arrived at the BAU and realized the political games their section chief was playing.

"Remember the case where you and Hotch showed up to help even after you'd both requested transfers?" JJ asked, transfer being the kind word for Emily's request to resign from the FBI instead of spying on her unit chief to Strauss.

"Strauss nearly blew a gasket!" Emily cried out as she thought back to that day.

"It only got better when you said you were going to see if you could get invited into the house we were monitoring," JJ added.

"Why?" Amanda asked, rather curious about why they would want to get invited into a house that was under surveillance.

"A father was using his son to kidnap women. We knew a woman was being held captive inside their house," Emily explained. "I was going to get the proof we needed to go in."

"And Strauss refused, saying since you had resigned you were no longer an agent, and she wouldn't let you get involved in the case."

"I just threw it back in her face," Emily confirmed with a grin.

It had felt like a major win to her. She hadn't been willing to play Strauss' game from the beginning, and resigning had been her way of showing that. This second refusal to follow Strauss' plan was just the cherry on top.

"Oh yeah?" Olivia asked, the question of how obvious but unasked.

"I told her if I wasn't an agent then I was just a civilian, which was even better for me. She couldn't stop a civilian from walking up and knocking on a little boy's door."

"The look on her face after that…" JJ laughed. It was like she'd taken a nice big bite of a lemon and had followed it up with a hard punch to the face. "Usually Strauss is the shark when you face off with her. It was nice to see it turned around for once."

"Sounds like Tucker," Olivia mused. She'd been careful to take a look around and be sure there wasn't anyone at the bar that she wouldn't want overhearing before she began. "A shark that locks on to you and never lets go."

"Who?" Amanda asked her brow furrowed. She hadn't had the joy of meeting him yet.

"A creep from IAB. He's had it out for SVU for a long time. Trust me; you don't want to go up against him. He doesn't see reason."

Emily snorted. "Do they ever?"

Not seeing reason could fit Strauss to a T too.

"I knew a guy like that from my old squad," Amanda told them. "Only his not seeing reason was more from a lack of common sense."

She smirked, and the others knew this was going to be good. People who lacked common sense were usually the best main characters in comedy stories.

"He decided it would be a good idea to prank our commander for April Fool's. You know, just for fun."

"The commander?" JJ asked incredulously. If you were going to prank someone, most people wouldn't pick the person in charge. Lack of common sense number one right there.

"Yup."

"What did he do?" Emily demanded as she rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward eagerly.

"He glued the commander's desk drawers shut. Figured it would last a little while, a day or a few good tugs, but that would be it. Unfortunately for him, he found the one type of Crazy Glue or Gorilla Glue or whatever that actually works the way they say it does."

"It didn't open at all?" Olivia gasped.

"Nope. No matter how hard anyone tried. Poor Greg was stuck doing overtime with a flat headed screwdriver and every other tool that had even the slightest chance of working to try and break the glue seal he'd put on," Amanda laughed.

"It made for some difficult days since our commander couldn't get to any of his supplies or forms. We were loaning him things constantly, which only brought up the prank again every time he had to ask for something he could have easily found in his desk. The only saving grace was that Greg did this before the commander had come in to work, so at least his car and house keys weren't in his desk yet. I don't even what to think about what would have happened if they had been."

"I bet the commander was steaming!" Emily exclaimed. She'd seen how pissed off Hotch could be over something a lot smaller than that. If someone had tried to mess with his desk, not that anyone in the team would be dumb enough to, Hotch probably would have killed them.

"Hell yes. Greg had crap work for months after that. Whenever there was a bad job that nobody wanted to do, he got it. Extra paper work, canvassing in the rain, talking to a particularly deluded perp or alleged victim whose story didn't add up in the least. Anything really. Not that I minded. Aside from the smell from his various dumpster diving expeditions of course."

They all laughed, reveling in the idiot's misery. He'd been asking for punishment with that prank and gotten exactly what he should have in return. Each of them had wound up with the short end of the stick before. It was nice to know that sometimes it was actually given to the person who deserved it.

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><p>Author's Note: Last chapter is up tomorrow.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7 Showing up the Boys

Chapter Seven – Showing Up the Boys

They spent the next forty minutes enjoying another round of beer and chatting. The discussion rolled around to chocolate and the many other vices they each had. That topic only brought them to a more dangerous one: shopping. Talk of shoes and jewelry for the few times any of them got to get dressed up held all of their attention. It wasn't until a loud cheer went up from around the bar that they became more aware of other people again.

"What the hell?" Amanda asked curiously as she eyed the large gathering of men in the far corner.

One had a fisted hand raised in victory and seemed to be gloating to the others.

"Oh, that's Andy. Around here he's the self proclaimed darts champion," their waitress explained as she came over with another round for all of them. "Only a few people have managed to beat him, and that's only on one of his bad days. He's always come back and creamed them after."

"Guy thinks he's tough shit," Emily mused as she watched the group.

"Come on! Anybody out there dare to take on the reigning champion?"

Most of the people in the bar swung around to look at Andy, but nobody took him up on the offer. Andy had been on a roll tonight, and nobody wanted to be the next victim. Emily nudged JJ's arm and grinned mischievously at her. JJ got the message right away. She stood up and leaned against the table before addressing Andy.

"Think you're man enough to take me on?"

Andy glanced over at her and smiled gently. He didn't seem worried at all, but he should have been.

"If you're up for a challenge, then I am, Sweetheart."

Sweetheart? Really? JJ glanced behind her at Emily with an amused smile on her face. This guy had no idea what he was getting into. JJ would have crushed him to begin with. The fact that he had called her "Sweetheart" only made it easier to be willing to demolish him and maybe rub it in his face after.

"Should I be nice?" she asked Emily, still smirking. She had a feeling she knew what the answer would be. Emily didn't disappoint.

"I think he deserves whatever is coming to him," Emily told her. She winked, the meaning clear. No, she definitely shouldn't be nice.

JJ grabbed one last sip of her beer before sauntering over to Andy and the dart board, her hips swaying with each step. Andy grinned. He was looking forward to this. It wasn't that often that he got to crush a pretty woman in darts.

"Alright! We've got a challenger! Who wants to make a bet?"

Olivia's eyes shifted away from JJ and onto Amanda, watching closely. Amanda probably had no idea that Olivia was aware of her gambling problem. It had never been discussed openly with anyone but their captain and Fin. That didn't mean Olivia hadn't put the pieces together. She was a good detective after all. Without saying a word to hint at what she knew, Liv gently touched Amanda's arm. The other detective glanced over and smiled. Apparently she was handling things just fine, and Olivia didn't need to worry.

"Think she'll win?" Olivia asked Emily.

Emily almost laughed outright when she responded.

"Jayje is from a tiny town in PA. Darts is like a national sport there. Besides, you've never seen how point on she is with a gun."

"And that's related?" Amanda asked skeptically.

Emily nodded toward where JJ was standing and twirling a dart in her hand.

"See for yourself."

All three watched closely as JJ held the dart up and readied herself to throw. Andy had insisted that she go first so she wouldn't be intimidated by his first throw. A quick flick of her wrist and the dart was zipping through the air to land just outside of the center circle. Andy's mouth hung open just a bit when the dart came to rest. JJ smiled at him and brushed a loose strand of hair back behind one ear.

"You're not intimidated by _my_ first throw, right?"

Not willing to be made fun of, Andy immediately started clapping his hands in response.

"Nice job. Just don't get too cocky. Beginner's luck doesn't last forever," he warned with a confident smile.

"Beginner's luck, huh? You wish."

"He's certainly going to wish that's all it is," Emily grinned as she continued to watch the game.

Amanda and Olivia both seemed to agree. There was just no way JJ could have been that lucky. It had to be skill.

And it was. As the game neared the end JJ was still continually hitting high point shots. Andy's darts on the other hand were moving farther away from the center. Unwilling to lose to JJ, he'd gotten so tense that he'd begun to make quite a few mistakes. His next throw sealed his fate. The dart left his hand, flew through the air, and sunk into the wood surrounding the board. He hadn't even managed to get one point on that throw. A cheer roared out and the spectators started clapping JJ on the back.

"Nice job!"

"Damn, you're good!"

"I didn't think anyone could beat him!"

JJ just laughed at all of them before winking at Andy. She patted his arm in a consolidating fashion.

"Next time, be careful who you challenge to a game. There's more to a woman than what you see on the surface."

Andy just gaped at her, completely unable to respond. He was still trying to figure out what had just happened.

Grinning, JJ weaved her way around the guys on their way to harass Andy over his loss and made her way back to the table. Double high fives were exchanged all around.

"That was pretty damn impressive," Amanda told JJ as the other woman took a seat.

"Thanks. It was fun. You've got to put the guys in their place from time to time."

Olivia laughed.

"I'd drink to that."

The others didn't need any more direction than that. They each lifted their glasses, ready for a toast.

"To holding our departments together," Olivia began.

"And showing the guys we can kick ass just as well as they can," Emily added.

"Cheers!" Amanda and JJ echoed as they all clicked glasses.

It had been an amazing night so far, and they were planning on enjoying every moment they still had. Soon enough they would be back to work again. All four of them pushed that thought out of their minds though. It could wait until later. Right now there was fun still to be had.

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><p>Author's Note: That's all! I do have another story (SVU only again) in the works. Unfortunately I'm not even done writing it since it's really long. Like rivaling Tendrils long... So you'll just have to wait a little while to see it up here again. If you're waiting for more CM stuff, that's coming also, but I can only write one at a time.<p> 


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